Vladyslav Anatoliyovych Atroshenko (Ukrainian: Владислав Анатолійович Атрошенко; born 5 December 1968)^[1] is a Ukrainian politician who is currently serving as the mayor of Chernihiv since 2015. Although on December 7, 2022, the Yavoriv District Court removed Atroshenko of the post of mayor of Chernihiv because it was alleged that at the beginning of the war, he took his family out of shelling in an official car.

In the 2015 Ukrainian local elections, Atroshenko was elected mayor of Chernihiv for the Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity".^[2] In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections, he was re-elected as mayor for Native Home [uk].^[3]

Atroshenko is a former Ukrainian MP serving from 2002 to being the Governor of Chernihiv Oblast in 2005 to again being an MP between 2012 and January 2016.

Biography

In the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election Atroshenko was elected in single-member constituency 207 for Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Bloc.^[3]

On 4 February 2005, Atroshenko was appointed Governor of Chernihiv Oblast, and on December 12 of the same year he was dismissed.^[3]

In 2006, he unsuccessfully ran for parliament on the electoral lists of the Our Ukraine Bloc.^[3]

In the 2010 Ukrainian local elections, Atroshenko was elected a deputy of the Chernihiv Oblast Council for the Strong Ukraine party.^[3]

In the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Atroshenko was elected in single-member constituency 206 (located in Chernihivas a self-nominated candidate (with 40.64% of the votes).^[4][3] In parliament he joined the Party of Regions faction.^[3] Atroshenko voted for laws on dictatorship on January 16, 2014.^[5]

He was re-elected in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election on a ticket from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (as a non-partisan) again in single-member constituency 206 (located in Chernihiv, he won the constituency with 51.34% of the votes).^[6][3]

In the 2015 Ukrainian local elections, Atroshenko was elected mayor of Chernihiv for the Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity".^[2] In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections, he was re-elected as mayor for Native Home [uk].^[3]

In February 2022, during the Siege of Chernihiv, he organized the resistance to the Russian attack on the city. On 2 March, he predicted that urban warfare in the city was possible.^[7] Two missiles hit a hospital in the city during the day, according to the health administration chief, Serhiy Pivovar.^[8]

On 10 March, he said that Russian forces had completely encircled Chernihiv, adding that the city was completely isolated and that critical infrastructure for its 300,000 residents was rapidly failing as it came under repeated bombardment.^[9]

On March 25, 2022, he shot a video from his car showing the destruction of Chernihiv, and on March 26, he reported that more houses were destroyed than intact.^[10][11]

On December 7, 2022, the Yavoriv District Court removed Atroshenko of the post of mayor of Chernihiv because it was alleged that at the beginning of the war, he took his family out of shelling in an official car.^[12] On December 16, 2022, it became known that Atroshenko wrote a statement to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the police. Atroshchenko believes that he is constantly being watched. Prior to that, The "Chesno" movement, the Association of Cities of Ukraine, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, lawyers and other experts called it political pressure on mayors and an attack on local self-government. Oleksandr Lomako [uk] became acting mayor of Chernihiv.^[13] Lomako is also a member of Native Home^[14]